Sonic Solutions today announced a new version of its high-end Blu-ray Disc production toolset, the Scenarist® BD Workgroup, featuring options for encoding, authoring, debugging, and formatting premium entertainment for commercial release on Blu-ray 3D. Based on its 3DAccess initiative and feedback from a collective of Sonic's professional users who elected to work closely with Sonic to solve the complex 3D production workflow issues, Sonic's new Scenarist-based Blu-ray 3D workgroup offers a host of new capabilities, including:

"With 3D capable TVs coming to the market in force this year, we knew we needed to be ready to deliver the high-impact productions we're known for in 3D for our studio clients; and Sonic has been there for us every step of the way," said Thomas Schmithausen, Manager Multi Media Services at Infomedia GmbH, Dortmund, Germany. "We chose Scenarist years ago because of Sonic's on-going development and commitment to enterprise-level production businesses like ours. The Scenarist 3D Workgroup has everything we need to delight our clients, and now in three dimensions!"

Sonic's professional encoding and authoring tools are used by top-class title production facilities worldwide to deliver millions of the most compatible and exciting DVD and Blu-ray discs each year. With CineVision 3.5 and Scenarist BD 5.5, Sonic is fueling Blu-ray 3D title creation in the same way the company ignited the market for premium entertainment on Blu-ray Disc. As is the case with all Sonic's professional production tools, all systems include in-depth training sessions that addresses the design challenges facilities will face producing 3D titles.

"The 3DAccess program has achieved our goal of industry-wide collaboration and ensured our customers have the creative tools they need to meet the requirements of high-end content developers and major motion picture companies," said Rolf Hartley, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Sonic Solutions. "Blu-ray 3D represents a new business opportunity for our customers and their clients. In addition to ease-of-use and creativity, compatibility with the initial range of Blu-ray 3D players has been a major focus for our development effort to ensure that our consumers enjoy a trouble-free 3D home entertainment experience from any player."

Starting September 16, 2010, all Blu-ray 3D production capabilities are available as plug-in options for existing CineVision and Scenarist systems, eliminating the need for a completely new production system and lowering the investment required by authoring facilities. Pricing and purchase information is available from Sonic's network of professional product resellers (www.sonic.com/go/reseller). As well as providing a comprehensive range of tools for Blu-ray 3D Disc production, Sonic's RoxioNow® entertainment platform, which already powers digital storefronts on 3D-enabled HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players, has been primed to deliver 3D content for online distribution once titles become available.